Political prisoners in Belarusian jails: 2 months ago leaders of entrepreneurs arrested

Two months have passed since Mikalay Autukhovich, Yury Lyavonau and Uladzimir Asipenka were imprisoned. The term of investigation has been extended for the second time till May 8.

Vaukavysk-based businessmen were arrested on February 8. Full cars of riot policemen from Minsk held a “mopping up” operation in Vaukavysk, and it was held in such a way that this story is repeated in Vaukavysk in whisper since then.

The three businessmen were charged under Article 218 of the Criminal Code (intentional destruction or damage to property of citizens). Two months have passed, but the investigation hasn’t been finished yet. Last Monday Viktar Makuts, “Stif-Trans” company mechanic, was arrested. He worked with the arrested for a long time, Radio Svaboda informs.

As the Charter’97 press-centre informed, the chairman of the organizing committee for creation of the republican Afghan War veterans’ association “Fatherland Defenders” Alyaksandr Kamarouski and the chairman of the public association “Legal assistance to the population” Aleh Vouchak wrote an open letter to the Prosecutor General with a demand to release political prisoners.

Human rights activists stress: they are not trying to interfere with the investigation, but they are worried that the arrested are charged with arson of a property of officials, though people had been convicted of committing this crime and even served the sentence.

There are attempts to charge Autukhovich with creation of a criminal group in July 2007, but it was stated in the letter that he was serving the sentence in jail at that time.

Human rights activists also remind that no arms or explosives were found during the search in the places of the arrested.

Aleh Vouchak believes that in fact investigators are not engaged in detecting the crimes in connection with which the criminal case had been opened. They are looking for arms which could allegedly be stored somewhere in Vaukavysk. However, as said by him, this case could become a complete surprise.

“We have decided to write to the prosecutor general, for him to study the materials of the case seriously, ad look into the matter, to find out who is framing him and Lukashenka. A struggle of certain clans is visible here. Recently Navumau was dismissed, and soon it could happen that the same could happen to Vasilevich,” Radio Svaboda informs.

As for the political prisoners, human rights watchdogs demand to release them and are ready to bail them out.

“If they were guilty, they were to have concrete charges and be in jail long ago. I am 100% sure that these people are imprisoned for nothing. They are prisoners of war, prisoners of the political war,” he is convinced.

Daughters of Yury Lyavonau and Uladzimir Asipenka told that they are going to write complaints to the Prosecutor General, as investigative actions against their fathers are not carried out, and they are not released.

Liudmila Asipenka added that the authorities refused to give military pension of her father to her mother, though it was done without problems before. As said by her, the investigator had written a corresponding letter about that to the military commissariat.

After consultations with lawyers she wrote complaints to different institutions, but has received no answers yet.